


Daffodils

by giggly_dick



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Flowers, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 11:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8205028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giggly_dick/pseuds/giggly_dick
Summary: Arhtur's garden is the best in the neighborhood, but who is that stealing his flowers?





	

Arthur had a pride in his garden. His garden was the best in the whole neighborhood, with large, beautiful flowers arranged in specific patterns to make the front yard looking perfect and gorgeous. Many people complimented his garden, some even asking the young man for one of his many flowers, which he usually gave to those who asked if he could. Yes, Arthur’s garden was his pride and joy, he had spent countless hours working on it to the glorious picture it was now. 

Arthur, when he woke up in the morning, always read the morning paper while sitting in his favorite chair, drinking a cup of coffee, with two sugars and a bit of cream, looking out on his pride. Then, once his coffee was gone and the paper read, he’d dress for work at his father’s business firm, or he’d dress for early gardening on weekends. 

This week was a special week, however, because he had it off from work. A whole week to do nothing but lounge about and work on his garden. Yes, Arthur was very happy for this week, and so on Monday, he decided to celebrate by waking up much later than usual. Once he’d grabbed his coffee, he did what he usually in the mornings and sat, small smile of content playing on his handsome face. But, as he looked out on his garden, he noticed one of his neighbors stop to look at his flowers. Arthur felt a smirk tug on his lips. Yes, Arthur thought, another admirer of my wonderful garden. His smirk grew as he recognized this particular neighbor. 

His name was Merlin, a new addition to the neighborhood, with milky white skin and untidy raven hair that fell into a pair of gorgeous, piercing blue eyes. Merlin was lanky and a bit shorter and had no brains but a sharper wit than any other person Arthur knew. They’d met at a house party that their mutual friend, Gwen, was throwing. When Arthur first saw his he’d thought nothing of the pale, skinny man, but when said man started insulting you for no good reason (Arthur was being rude to a few other guests, but, of course, Arthur didn’t see it that way), Arthur took notice of the other. Merlin and he had a bit of an argument, which ended up with Morgana, Arthur’s dear sister, smacking Arthur for being such a prat to the new addition to their little hood. Merlin, then, proceeded to call Arthur a clotpole (whatever that was), which then started another argument which was ended by Morgana dragging Arthur from the party. Arthur was forced by Morgana to apologize to Gwen, for ruining her party, and to Merlin, for being so rude. Arthur was already going to apologize to Gwen, because she was a sweetheart and didn’t need Arthur’s pigheadedness to ruin her party, but there was no way in hell he was going to say sorry to that idiot Merlin. 

But of course, one does not just say no to Morgana. There may have been a lot of blackmail involved to get Arthur to trudge down to Merlin’s house, directions to said house given to him by the lovely Gwen. His apology turned into bickering which turned into a playful argument that left both men rather speechless by the other. Arthur and Merlin now had a thing that if they ever ran into each other, they would happily insult each other, calling the other a dollophead or an idiot as they passed. Arthur would never admit to liking Merlin’s clever (stupid) insults or those gigantic ears or that slim body and his messy hair and his sharp cheekbones and - 

No, Arthur most certainly did not like Merlin Emrys at all. Not on bit. Maybe a little. Or a lot. Okay, apparently, Arthur liked Merlin, the idiot with the ears, a great deal. But Arthur would never admit it, that’s something he was sure of. Merlin would never know about Arthur’s teeny-tiny (quite massive) crush on him. 

Now, as Arthur glanced at Merlin, though he was really checking the other out, he realized that Merlin didn’t know that this was Arthur’s house. Arthur could go outside right now and show off his garden to Merlin, as he seemed quite interested in Arthur’s flowers, and impress Merlin with all of his beautiful flowers. Yes, sounds like great plan. As Arthur stood up from his chair, he noticed that Merlin began to look side to side, as if making sure the coast was clear, before the lanky man bent down and plucked a daffodil from his garden. 

What. The. Fuck? 

Arthur, stormed out of his house before he knew what he was doing, anger that someone had dared pull a flower from wonderful garden. How dare they?! The audacity! Arthur yelled out, making Merlin jump into the air, dropping the perfect daffodil to the ground.

“Arthur?” Merlin asked, confused as to why the muscular blonde man was storming from, what Merlin assumed to be, an old woman’s home.

“What,” Arthur started, fury in his gaze as he stood toe to toe with Merlin, “exactly do you think you’re doing?” 

“Me? I- I was- I mean, well, that is to say- I was-” Merlin stammered, confused and slightly jarred of the situation he found himself in.

“What are you doing plucking _my_ flowers in _my_ garden?” Arthur crossed his arms over his broad chest. Merlin blinked up at him.

____“Wait,” he said, “This is _your_ garden?” Arthur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.___ _

______“Yes, _Mer_ lin, this is my garden and you’re stealing a daffodil from it.” He glared back down at the slightly shorter man.___ _ _ _

________“Oh…”Merlin looked down at the ground, embarrassed, “I’m sorry, Arthur, it’s just, I need a flower and I don’t have any money to buy one and your flowers are always so pretty and it only one flower and-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Arthur cut him off with a raise of his hand, “First of all,” He started, “It’s never only one flower, every flower makes the garden look more beautiful, without one, the garden will never be as beautiful as it can with the missing flower. Each fucking flower is important and help make my garden fucking fantastic, thank you very much,” Merlin opened him mouth to say something, but Arthur plowed on, “Second, why do you need flowers so badly you’re willing to steal?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Merlin blushed, “Well, you see, today is-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You have a date with some girl, don’t you?” Arthur put the pieces together. Merlin looked conflicted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Well, I mean- yeah, but-” Merlin began._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“So, you steal from my garden just to give a flower to some girl,” Arthur figured it out. How could he be so stupid as to think that Merlin would ever go out with him? Arthur couldn’t help but feel crushed that his feelings for Merlin wouldn’t be returned, but he was also angry that Merlin had stolen from his garden for some girl. The word jealously crept into Arthur’s head and he could help but agree. He was jealous that Merlin had affections for someone else and was using his flowers to whoo them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Merlin now was glaring up at Arthur, “She is not just some girl, she’s-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Arthur waved him off, “Yeah, yeah, she’s special. Who is she?” Arthur had to know._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Merlin glared harder, “If you’d let me finish a sentence-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Gwen-?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Isn’t Gwen with Lance?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Nimueh-?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“God, no, I have standards,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Morgause? Please don’t tell me it’s Morgana,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“No! It’s not any of them!” Merlin threw his hand up into the air, “Why can’t you-?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Take me to her,” Arthur demanded. Merlin blinked again, confused._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Wot?” he asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I want to meet the girl who’s pretty enough to deserve a stolen flower,” Arthur and Merlin stared at each other for a moment before Merlin finally sighed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Fine, fine! You want to meet her? Fine, let’s go, but I don’t wanna hear word on the way, got it?” Merlin pointed at Arthur._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You’re the one who robbed me, shouldn’t I make the rules?” Merlin glared, “Okay, fine,” and Arthur mimed zipping his lips close._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Merlin nodded and bent to pick up the daffodil that had fallen to the ground. Still beautiful, Arthur thought looking at the daffodil (and quite possibly Merlin as well)._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They began their trek, to a place Merlin had clear been to many times before and Arthur didn’t quite recognize yet. It was about a fifteen minute walk filled with silence between the two men and birds chirping loudly, as if to fill their silence. Arthur began to recognize their path, confusion settling on his face. Arthur made this walk, or one similar at least, once or twice a year, to visit his mother. Arthur felt a rock settle in his stomach as the two entered the graveyard._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Arthur suddenly felt very bad for making Merlin take him hear and he felt bad for yelling at the other about the flower. This flower’s destiny was not to make Arthur’s garden beautiful, but to make a tombstone beautiful._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They stopped at a small tombstone with the words Hunith Caroline Emrys, as well as the birth and death dates, carved into the plain stone. There was a flower at its base, but he flower was withered and dead. Arthur noted that it was also a daffodil. The blonde man turned his gaze from the headstone to the man beside him who had silent tears running down his pale face. Merlin bent down to place the daffodil on the ground, next to the dead one._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Arthur opened his mouth to apologize, but Merlin shook his head softly, wanting silence. Arthur closed his mouth with a click, tearing his gaze from Merlin and looking back at the grave. After a few minutes, Arthur, with a spike of confidence, reached down to grab Merlin’s hand, trying to convey comfort to the other. Merlin, to Arthur’s surprise, didn’t tear his hand away, but laced their fingers together instead._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“They were Mum’s favorites,” Merlin stated in a mildly watery voice after what felt like ages, “She always loved daffodils, said they contained the light of the sun in each petal. Said they were meant for happiness and that you could never feel sad with a daffodil in the room. When she got sick, her room was filled to the brim with the flowers. It looked like the sun had vomited up a flower shop,” Merlin laughed lightly at the memory, “But they made her laugh, even when we were told how long she had-” He cleared his throat, “She still smiled and laughed like all she had was a cold. She lived here, I lived towards the city with my Uncle Gaius, but when she passed, I moved out to her house, cause she loved that house, but with the hospital bills and moving, I ran outta money so I couldn’t afford a flower for this week,” Merlin turned and looked at Arthur, a sorry look in his eyes, “I’m sorry I took your flower, but they are so pretty and...Mum would’ve loved your garden. Did- did she ever see it?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Arthur remembered Hunith, she was a kind woman that often times complimented Arthur on his garden and Arthur would give her a flower every time. He didn’t think he ever gave her a daffodil. He squeezed Merlin’s hand._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hunith loved the garden, she saw it many times…” Arthur bit his lip, “I’m- I’m sorry, Merlin, that I jumped on you for the flower and that I didn’t let you explain and-”  
“Arthur,” Merlin smiled kindly at Arthur, “Don’t worry about it, I shouldn’t have stolen from your garden, I’m sorry,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It’s alright, I probably have more flowers than I know what to do with, anyway,” Arthur waved his apology off. Merlin shook his head._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“But a wise prat once told me that every flower is important, each make the garden look prettier,” Merlin grinned._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Arthur beamed down at Merlin, “It’s true, every flower has a purpose, but some flowers are made to leave the garden and make other things beautiful,” he gestured to the graveyard, “Like, a land of death, flowers make this world a bit brighter. Maybe, daffodils are made for Hunith, to bring the sunlight to her. And, maybe, if you want, you can always take a daffodil form my garden for her. Just as long as I can come with,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Merlin smiled, “Thank you, Arthur,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They smiled at each other before silently turning away from the grave and leaving the cemetery, hand in hand._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Soon, dates were promised and numbers were exchanged, but they always, once a week, plucked two daffodils and two pink roses (Ygraine’s favorite flower) from Arthur’s garden to silently walk to place the light in a land of death._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> First merthur fic! I saw this prompt on tumblr that said something like "I steal your flowers sometimes and now you've caught me and want to see the girl who's pretty enough to warrant flower theft and I'm trying to figure out how to tell you we're going to a graveyard" Obviously I changed it up a bit but whaeves ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Anyway, thx for da read~~  
> 1kudos=1prayer


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